BUFFALO, NY – Behind a three from Kaylan Deveney (Medford, NJ/Life Center Academy) with 5.9 seconds remaining in overtime, the Rider University women's basketball team downed Canisius, 55-53, Thursday night. The Broncs remain alive in the MAAC Tournament race, improving to 7-19 on the season, and 5-12 in MAAC play, while the Golden Griffins fall to 4-22 on the year, and 2-15 in league play.
 
Canisius led for most of the overtime period, getting an old-fashioned three-point play to go ahead 53-49 with 1:41 left. The Broncs got a one-for-two trip at the line, followed by a stop, then two free throws by Deveney to cut the deficit to one. On the ensuing Canisius possession, Aliya McIver (White Plains, NY/White Plains) deflected a Golden Griffin dribble out of bounds. The Broncs thought that the ball deflected off a Canisius player's leg off of McIver's deflection, and challenged the play where replay showed the second deflection, overturning the call and giving the Broncs the ball for the possession where Alena Cofield (Langhorne, PA/Neshaminy) drove and found Deveney open in the corner for the game-winning shot.
 
After Canisius opened the scoring, McIver knocked down a three to give Rider its first lead of the game. With Rider up 9-6, Canisius scored seven-straight points to reclaim the lead and the Golden Griffins led 13-12 after the opening 10 minutes.
 
The Broncs followed up the final three points of the first quarter with the first seven points of the second, totaling a 10-0 run. Emmy Roach (Littlehampton, Australia/Heathfield) opened the scoring in the second, followed by five-straight from McIver. After a pair of Canisius free throws, Deb Okechukwu (Washington, DC/Archbishop Carroll[CCBC-Essex/Harcum CC]) and Roach both scored and the Broncs led 23-18 at the half.
 
After the Golden Griffins cut the lead to 25-22, McIver knocked down her fourth three of the game to spark a 7-0 run with Amany Lopez (Springfield, MA/South Shore Christian Prep) and Okechukwu adding buckets during the run. Canisius would immediately counter with an 8-1 run to close out the third, but the Broncs maintained a 33-30 lead entering the fourth.
 
Cofield scored Rider's first six points of the fourth as the Broncs held the Griffs without a field goal for the first seven minutes of the quarter, but the Broncs could not pull away. With 90 seconds remaining, Deveney knocked down a three to put Rider up 44-37, but Canisius followed with a 6-0 run to trim the Rider lead to 44-43. Deveney knocked down a free throw with 16.7 seconds remaining, before the Golden Griffins scored on a second opportunity to tie the game with 8.1 second left and force the extra session.
 
Quotes & Notes
"I'm really proud of our effort tonight. We didn't make it easy on ourselves. Credit to Canisius, they kept fighting, but I'm happy with our fight and to be able to come out of that game with a win tonight is huge for us. We were not good at the free throw line tonight, but we'll take any win we can get at this point in the season." – Head Coach Jackie Hartzell
 
"I wasn't hitting early, but I knew my teammates trusted me to hit it when that moment came. I'm just grateful it went in. At this point in the season, every game for us is a playoff game, so we're just taking it game-by-game so we can try to get to the tournament." – Junior Center Kaylan Deveney
 
- Rider wins the lone game between the teams this season, and trims the Canisius lead in the all-time series to 37-20.
- McIver's led the Broncs with 16 points, scoring 13 in the first half and reaching double figures for the 14^th time on the year.
- Cofield scored 11 of her 13 in the second half and overtime, getting double digits for the sixth time this season.
 
Broncs By The Numbers
- Rider shot 29.6% (21-71) from the field, and 21.4% (6-28) from three. The Golden Griffins shot 35.3% (18-51) from the field and 18.2% (2-11) from three.
- The Broncs had 12 assists on their 21 made baskets, led by four from Cofield.
- Rider held a 47-43 advantage on the glass, including a 25-14 edge in offensive rebounds. Cofield led the Broncs with nine boards, including six on the offensive end.
 
Up Next
The Broncs are back in action Saturday, continuing the road trip at Niagara. Tip is scheduled for 2 p.m.